CVE-2026-46110 (GCVE-0-2026-46110)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-05-28 09:35
Modified
2026-06-14 17:55
Severity ?
7.5 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: stmmac: Prevent NULL deref when RX memory exhausted The CPU receives frames from the MAC through conventional DMA: the CPU allocates buffers for the MAC, then the MAC fills them and returns ownership to the CPU. For each hardware RX queue, the CPU and MAC coordinate through a shared ring array of DMA descriptors: one descriptor per DMA buffer. Each descriptor includes the buffer's physical address and a status flag ("OWN") indicating which side owns the buffer: OWN=0 for CPU, OWN=1 for MAC. The CPU is only allowed to set the flag and the MAC is only allowed to clear it, and both must move through the ring in sequence: thus the ring is used for both "submissions" and "completions." In the stmmac driver, stmmac_rx() bookmarks its position in the ring with the `cur_rx` index. The main receive loop in that function checks for rx_descs[cur_rx].own=0, gives the corresponding buffer to the network stack (NULLing the pointer), and increments `cur_rx` modulo the ring size. After the loop exits, stmmac_rx_refill(), which bookmarks its position with `dirty_rx`, allocates fresh buffers and rearms the descriptors (setting OWN=1). If it fails any allocation, it simply stops early (leaving OWN=0) and will retry where it left off when next called. This means descriptors have a three-stage lifecycle (terms my own): - `empty` (OWN=1, buffer valid) - `full` (OWN=0, buffer valid and populated) - `dirty` (OWN=0, buffer NULL) But because stmmac_rx() only checks OWN, it confuses `full`/`dirty`. In the past (see 'Fixes:'), there was a bug where the loop could cycle `cur_rx` all the way back to the first descriptor it dirtied, resulting in a NULL dereference when mistaken for `full`. The aforementioned commit resolved that *specific* failure by capping the loop's iteration limit at `dma_rx_size - 1`, but this is only a partial fix: if the previous stmmac_rx_refill() didn't complete, then there are leftover `dirty` descriptors that the loop might encounter without needing to cycle fully around. The current code therefore panics (see 'Closes:') when stmmac_rx_refill() is memory-starved long enough for `cur_rx` to catch up to `dirty_rx`. Fix this by explicitly checking, before advancing `cur_rx`, if the next entry is dirty; exit the loop if so. This prevents processing of the final, used descriptor until stmmac_rx_refill() succeeds, but fully prevents the `cur_rx == dirty_rx` ambiguity as the previous bugfix intended: so remove the clamp as well. Since stmmac_rx_zc() is a copy-paste-and-tweak of stmmac_rx() and the code structure is identical, any fix to stmmac_rx() will also need a corresponding fix for stmmac_rx_zc(). Therefore, apply the same check there. In stmmac_rx() (not stmmac_rx_zc()), a related bug remains: after the MAC sets OWN=0 on the final descriptor, it will be unable to send any further DMA-complete IRQs until it's given more `empty` descriptors. Currently, the driver simply *hopes* that the next stmmac_rx_refill() succeeds, risking an indefinite stall of the receive process if not. But this is not a regression, so it can be addressed in a future change.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 779334e59850f863bf34665e0ff0b6faf126873b
Version: b6cb4541853c7ee512111b0e7ddf3cb66c99c137
Version: b6cb4541853c7ee512111b0e7ddf3cb66c99c137
Version: b6cb4541853c7ee512111b0e7ddf3cb66c99c137
Version: b6cb4541853c7ee512111b0e7ddf3cb66c99c137
Version: 7414a28de1b3b028714859078c00a874f9feff52
Version: b435b4573240b5530830a1a60e005c6fcfd928a0
Version: 6.6.3   ≤
Version: 6.1.64   ≤
Version: 6.5.13   ≤
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{
  "containers": {
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          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/stmmac_main.c"
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              "version": "7.0.7",
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.1",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
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      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: stmmac: Prevent NULL deref when RX memory exhausted\n\nThe CPU receives frames from the MAC through conventional DMA: the CPU\nallocates buffers for the MAC, then the MAC fills them and returns\nownership to the CPU. For each hardware RX queue, the CPU and MAC\ncoordinate through a shared ring array of DMA descriptors: one\ndescriptor per DMA buffer. Each descriptor includes the buffer\u0027s\nphysical address and a status flag (\"OWN\") indicating which side owns\nthe buffer: OWN=0 for CPU, OWN=1 for MAC. The CPU is only allowed to set\nthe flag and the MAC is only allowed to clear it, and both must move\nthrough the ring in sequence: thus the ring is used for both\n\"submissions\" and \"completions.\"\n\nIn the stmmac driver, stmmac_rx() bookmarks its position in the ring\nwith the `cur_rx` index. The main receive loop in that function checks\nfor rx_descs[cur_rx].own=0, gives the corresponding buffer to the\nnetwork stack (NULLing the pointer), and increments `cur_rx` modulo the\nring size. After the loop exits, stmmac_rx_refill(), which bookmarks its\nposition with `dirty_rx`, allocates fresh buffers and rearms the\ndescriptors (setting OWN=1). If it fails any allocation, it simply stops\nearly (leaving OWN=0) and will retry where it left off when next called.\n\nThis means descriptors have a three-stage lifecycle (terms my own):\n- `empty` (OWN=1, buffer valid)\n- `full` (OWN=0, buffer valid and populated)\n- `dirty` (OWN=0, buffer NULL)\n\nBut because stmmac_rx() only checks OWN, it confuses `full`/`dirty`. In\nthe past (see \u0027Fixes:\u0027), there was a bug where the loop could cycle\n`cur_rx` all the way back to the first descriptor it dirtied, resulting\nin a NULL dereference when mistaken for `full`. The aforementioned\ncommit resolved that *specific* failure by capping the loop\u0027s iteration\nlimit at `dma_rx_size - 1`, but this is only a partial fix: if the\nprevious stmmac_rx_refill() didn\u0027t complete, then there are leftover\n`dirty` descriptors that the loop might encounter without needing to\ncycle fully around. The current code therefore panics (see \u0027Closes:\u0027)\nwhen stmmac_rx_refill() is memory-starved long enough for `cur_rx` to\ncatch up to `dirty_rx`.\n\nFix this by explicitly checking, before advancing `cur_rx`, if the next\nentry is dirty; exit the loop if so. This prevents processing of the\nfinal, used descriptor until stmmac_rx_refill() succeeds, but\nfully prevents the `cur_rx == dirty_rx` ambiguity as the previous bugfix\nintended: so remove the clamp as well. Since stmmac_rx_zc() is a\ncopy-paste-and-tweak of stmmac_rx() and the code structure is identical,\nany fix to stmmac_rx() will also need a corresponding fix for\nstmmac_rx_zc(). Therefore, apply the same check there.\n\nIn stmmac_rx() (not stmmac_rx_zc()), a related bug remains: after the\nMAC sets OWN=0 on the final descriptor, it will be unable to send any\nfurther DMA-complete IRQs until it\u0027s given more `empty` descriptors.\nCurrently, the driver simply *hopes* that the next stmmac_rx_refill()\nsucceeds, risking an indefinite stall of the receive process if not. But\nthis is not a regression, so it can be addressed in a future change."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 7.5,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          }
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-06-14T17:55:12.071Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e1c50b273298c7cd9b08b113e7a7598b531a02f5"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c910f7708e3c507b037ca91ca5b09f8cfe71e65"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4af2e62cbcda575a174acd230c3f3a208135e16d"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/950cb436165aad0f8f2cd49da3cd07677465bcde"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0bb05e6adfa99a2ea1fee1125cc0953409f83ed8"
        }
      ],
      "title": "net: stmmac: Prevent NULL deref when RX memory exhausted",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-46110",
    "datePublished": "2026-05-28T09:35:18.359Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-05-13T15:03:33.098Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-06-14T17:55:12.071Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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